Sand Mountain Reporter

GUNTERSVILLE — Chris Daniel threw two touchdown passes and ran for another and Corey Cahill returned an interception 94 yards for a score to lead Class 4A, No. 8 Guntersville to a convincing 35-7 win over Class 5A Albertville in the 95th meeting between the two teams Friday on Phil Isom Field at Chorba-Lee Stadium.

The victory is Guntersville’s sixth straight in the state’s oldest prep football rivalry, and the Wildcats grabbed their first lead ever in the series, 45-44-6.

“This is a big rivalry with a lot of our folks,” Guntersville head coach Phil Isom said. “They talk to our kids. The kids know about it. They probably know as much as we do about it, but we don’t have to talk about it to get them up for this.”

Cahill and Daniel said taking the lead in the rivalry was on their minds.

“It got us pumped and we were ready to put that record into our favor,” Cahill said.

“It’s been meaningful all week,” Daniel added. “The coaches didn’t really stress it that much. They just made it another game and made us work hard, but everybody had it on their minds.”

The Wildcats (8-2) host Rogers in the first round of the state playoffs next Friday. Rogers ousted Guntersville from the postseason last year in the opening round by a score of 3-0.

“It’s good to get a win tonight to kind of spring into the playoffs,” Isom said. “Rogers has got a good football team, but we’re going to enjoy this one tonight.”

The Aggies (5-5) visit Hartselle in the first round of the state playoffs next Friday.

“I don’t know how much (the rivalry) mattered to our kids,” Albertville head coach Joel Poole said, referring to the Guntersville game. “We’re just disappointed we couldn’t pull it out. All I know is we have to regroup and try to get ready to play Hartselle.”

The Aggies played the Wildcats tough the first two quarters, heading into halftime down just 14-7.

Guntersville scored on the third play of the game when Daniel hit a wide-open Mason Biddle down the left sideline for a 53-yard touchdown pass and an early 7-0 Wildcats lead.

Albertville evened the game up at 7-7 on a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Michael Reeves with 1:25 left in the first quarter. Tyree Roberts carried the ball three times for 42 yards on the 76-yard scoring drive.

The two teams battled to a standstill until late in the second quarter.

Guntersville scored on a 14-yard touchdown pass from Daniel to Cahill with 19 seconds left until halftime. The pass capped a 65-yard scoring drive sparked by Daniel’s three completions for 52 yards.

“That definitely gave them the momentum going into halftime,” Poole said. “After that we just couldn’t do anything offensively.”

The Wildcat defense dominated the second half when steady rains started falling. The Guntersville defense held the Aggies scoreless and limited Albertville’s offense to 88 total yards. Albertville’s seven second-half possessions ended on four punts, two lost fumbles and an interception.

With 9:50 left in the third quarter, Daniel broke a 52-yard run up the middle to set up a 3-yard scoring carry by Cahill to give Guntersville a 21-7 lead.

Daniel bolted for a 36-yard scoring dash between the tackles again with 7:50 left in the game to propel the Wildcats to a 28-7 lead.

“They were just bringing dogs on the outside, so we thought, ‘What the heck, we’ll go to the middle,’ and it worked out for the best,” said Daniel, who finished with four carries for 104 yards and 6-of-12 passing for 113 yards.

The Wildcats saved their best score for last when Cahill intercepted a Reeves pass and returned the ball 94 yards for a touchdown. It was Cahill’s second pick of the night after saving a touchdown with an interception in the Aggie end zone in the second quarter.

“We knew they were going to throw it, and they had both of their good receivers on one side, so I kind of cheated to that side,” Cahill said, describing his 94-yard return. “I saw the ball and caught it, and all their players were on the left side, so I bounced it back to the right side and got two blocks from my outside linebacker and my corner and took it all the way. I was tired.”

Guntersville stat leaders

On offense, Gunters-ville ended with 301 total yards.

Biddle led all receivers with 77 yards on two catches.

Jesse Teal led the Wildcat defense with eight tackles and Cahill had six.

Tyrek Minson has two tackles for losses of 17 yards and Jacob Maksimowski had an interception.

Caleb Mason was 5-of-5 kicking extra points.

Albertville stat leaders

Albertville had 256 total yards on offense.

Roberts led all rushers with 120 yards on 21 carries.

Reeves was 8-of-14 passing for 96 yards.

T.J. Vines led Aggie receivers with five receptions for 50 yards.

Taylor Hawkins led the Aggie defense with six tackles and T.J. Pams had an interception.

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